XConnect makes the case for Interconnect 2.0

Is an upgraded interconnection infrastructure necessary for HD communications? Eli Katz, president of XConnect, thinks so.

XConnect is preaching the virtues of Interconnect 2.0, moving up the food change from simple SIP peering to a more sophisticated way for service providers to exchange IP traffic supporting end-to-end HD voice, video, and presence.

“On the HD side, what we’re saying is, the more interconnected you are, the more HD you’ll have,” said Katz. “The challenge has been [with] these islands of HD voice.. how do [they] connect to enable end-to-end calls on a cross-network basis. Ultimately, cross-network connectivity is one of the most important calculations to [HD] mass market adaption and usage.”

To enable Interconnect 2.0, XConnect is promoting the twin virtues of a carrier ENUM registry and a network and signaling multimedia interconnect hub. In combination, the two deliver reduced cost, quality improvement by using the most direct route possible, and IP feature preservation. Calls can be routed by the highest features, rather than the least common denominator (i.e. the PSTN).

“If you are not in control of the call, if it goes via the usual multi-hop transit scenario, in 99 percent of cases there’s not a chance in hell of G.722 surviving,” said Katz.

A federation-based interconnect scheme moves VoIP away from the multi-hop, PSTN-as-LCD and replaces it with a highly scalable and efficient service enabling the delivery of true end-to-end IP. Using Carrier ENUM means calls are delivered directly to the service provider and assures preservation of all IP features for HD, video, and other IP-enabled applications.

Katz asserted that a hub-and-spoke model was the best way to implement Interconnect 2.0, as most service providers would have headaches managing hundreds to “tens of thousands” of direct connections between providers – “Very inefficient, very resource intensive.” A hub and spoke architecture allows for multiple different signaling interconnects and the carrier doesn’t have to manage them.